Trenchless technology: a modern solution for clean-flowing cities

The Indian Government is currently using trenchless technology for construction and rehabilitation of sewers in New Delhi as part of a massive programme to clean up the Yamuna river. The work is of a similar scale and concept to Joseph Bazalgette's nineteenth century London sewerage project—the main difference being that modern urban societies, whether rich or poor, can no longer afford the disruption of major open-cut construction. This paper reports on the huge take-up of trenchless techniques in both the developing and developed world, and of its increasingly vital role in cost-effective provision and renovation of water and sewage networks in today's congested cities.